Makenna's New Smile

Yesterday was an adventurous (for lack of a better word, really) day. Of course, I have to back up a bit and tell a story before telling you about yesterday.

Sweet Makenna has had teeth issues since she was just little. When she wasn't even quite 2, we noticed that her front teeth looked like they were melting or disintegrating. After consulting a pediatric dentist, they told us that she has compromised enamel (which I came to find out later was most likely due to an antibiotic I took during my pregnancy with her - erg!) and that her teeth were literally wearing away. She underwent surgery to cap her 4 front teeth and a couple of back molars. It was esentially root canals on her baby teeth. That was such a scary, stressful time but we were confident in the dentist's assurance that her permanent teeth would not be affected.

We thought we were done worrying about her teeth.

(This is a picture of her last December, when her one tooth was barely starting to get loose.)


But this past year, a couple of Makenna's once perfectly straight caps began to get loose - a normal part of them getting ready to fall out. But as the tooth got looser it became crooked, and you could see the silver backing of the tooth. Plus the white enamel front didn't quite match the real teeth beside it, making it look a little off-color. Makenna came home in tears many times, saying her teeth looked funny and that people made fun of her. Heart. Break. We kept consoling her that her teeth would fall out soon and that the new ones would come in and everything would be okay. Besides, her smile really was cute - see?

MAKENNA'S CUTE OLD SMILE


But then a permanent tooth began coming in BEHIND her baby tooth. We kept wiggling her loose baby tooth, hoping it would eventually come out. However, on Tuesday night as I was helping her brush her teeth, this is what I saw:

OUCH!


Since the permanent tooth was coming in behind the baby tooth, the permanent tooth was not helping push the baby tooth out, and the baby tooth roots were not dissolving like they were supposed to. The permanent tooth had begun to push the baby tooth - root and all - forward and it began splitting her gum. She wasn't in pain, but we knew something wasn't right, and we were worried about an infection.

The next day (Wednesday) we took her to the dentist. He said the 2 front teeth needed to come out, but he was afraid we'd be back in 6 months to get the other 2 out. So he recommended taking her 4 front teeth out - all of the caps - all at once. He was able to get it taken care of that day, which was scary but a blessing too. Quentin was able to be with her as she had laughing gas and a local anesthetic. It went pretty quickly and she did really well.

She was scared, but I think she is glad to have her caps gone. She still has a silly smile, but she looks like a typical 6- or 7-year-old with big teeth and little teeth and gaps all over! I catch her smiling in the mirror at herself, and I have a feeling that she feels more confident in her smile now than she did before.

MAKENNA'S CUTE NEW SMILE


So in all, Makenna has lost 8 teeth and but has just 2 1/2 new ones to fill in those gaps. And as for the future.... The dentist said in the next couple of weeks, her gum line will even out and the one permanent tooth she has will move forward into place. All is well. Until then, Makenna's having fun trying to figure out how to talk and eat with that big gap in her smile!

Manners

Kasidee just came up to me and said...
"Mama, can I may have some chocolate soymilk?"

San Fran

After months of planning (and debating...should we fly or drive or go on the train? Should we not go and just save the money? Should we wait till our kids are older?) we went to the San Francisco area for a long-awaited vacation! I had carefully saved some of the money I earned from teaching preschool with the hopes that we could use it on a family vacation. After realizing that just flying there and back would cost nearly $1500, we decided to drive. Our old clunkers wouldn't pass the test of a long drive through the middle of nowhere, so we rented a car (Quentin got his dream of driving a 2011 Dodge Charger!) We split the drive into 2 days each way and it wasn't that bad - it was part of the adventure! After we got home and tallied up our purchases, we realized that we were able to do the whole trip (car, gas, hotels, food, souvenirs, entertainment, etc.) for hundreds of dollars less than it would have cost just for plane tickets. Yeeeahhh!

Of course, it helped that we stayed with Quentin's uncle Mike and his family (thanks again guys!) They live near San Jose, about 45 minutes from San Francisco. We stayed with them during our honeymoon 14 years ago and it was fun to show the girls some of the things we remembered from way back then!

So...this is a long post of our 10-day vacation. Maybe it's boring to you readers, but it's a journal/scrapbook record for our family. After sorting through over 900 digital pictures, this is actually really pared down! But we had such a fun time and made some good memories!

SATURDAY, JUNE 18
Picked up rental car and left around 6:00 p.m. Drove to Battle Mountain, NV (a dinky little town) and arrived at our hotel around 11:00 p.m.

SUNDAY, JUNE 19
Father's Day! The girls had hidden their present - a Willow Tree figurine of a dad with 3 girls - to Daddy in their suitcase and surprised him in the morning. Swam in the hotel pool, enjoyed the free continental breakfast, and drove the 9 hours to Mike and Faye's house.

MONDAY, JUNE 20
My birthday! Drove to Santa Cruz and spent a couple of hours at the Henry Cowell Redwood Forest.





Went to the Wharf in Santa Cruz and ate pizza on the beach. Then the girls played in the water. They loved it!



TUESDAY, JUNE 21
Went to San Francisco to the Exploratorium - coolest hands-on science museum ever! We spent 4 hours there and only got halfway through it before it closed. So fun!!






Walked down and up Lombard Street, then drove down it.




Drove across the Golden Gate Bridge (we were going to walk across it but it was cold and windy) to Sausalito - that's what I imagine heaven to be like!



WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22
Had a quiet day at "home" with the Baker family. Swam in their neighbor's pool, had dinner and hung out.

THURSDAY, JUNE 23
Went back to San Francisco. Went to the Cable Car Museum.



Toured Mee Mee Bakery in Chinatown - we got to watch how they make fortune cookies.



Then we browsed at Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf - the girls picked out a souvenir.



Had dinner at Boudin's (known for their sourdough bread) - Q had clam chowder in a bread bowl and I had a yummy veggie sandwich.



FRIDAY, JUNE 24
Drove to Fairfield to tour the Jelly Belly Factory - yum!



Had a BBQ with the Baker family, then walked around the Great Mall in San Jose.

SATURDAY, JUNE 25
Spent the day in Monterey with the Bakers. Went to Monterey Bay Aquarium.



(This is a "Leafy Seadragon" - how cool is that?!)



Went to the beach even though it was only 55 degrees out. Jason taught Quentin how to "skim."



While everyone else bundled up and watched.



Went to Dennis the Menace Park



And had dinner at Fisherman's Wharf - check out our lemony grins!



SUNDAY, JUNE 26
Headed homeward via Lake Tahoe - so beautiful! Reached Reno by 8:30 p.m. but decided to drive a couple more hours to stay in Battle Mountain.



MONDAY, JUNE 27
Drove 5 hours from Battle Mountain to home. Met Mom and Grandma for dinner, returned the rental car, and began unpacking, doing laundry, and reminiscing!

Jason and the girls


Kiera, Makenna and Callie-Dog


Kasidee's "Cage" from the dog


Kasidee and Dana


The Stephens and Baker families

Princess Festival

On June 18 (yes, I'm a little behind) we joined our cousins at the Princess Festival at Thanksgiving Point. We had gone to the Princess Festival a couple of years ago and loved it, and Kasidee was excited to be old enough to be included this year. It is a festival sponsored by "In Our Own Quiet Way," a local charity that does amazing work for impoverished areas of Kenya. While the little girls (and a few little boys!) get to dress up, meet princes and princesses, and go on adventures, they also learn that a true princess is caring and helps other people. It was a fun adventure!


WITH ARIEL

WITH "THE WICKED STEPSISTERS"

PRETTY PRINCESSES


"RAPUNZEL KIERA"

KIERA AND RAPUNZEL

MAKENNA WITH THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA

ALICE AND THE MAD HATTER

COUSINS (PLUS ONE GIRL WE DON'T KNOW!)

Princess Dance Camp

For the summer, I let the girls each choose one summer recreation class (besides swimming lessons.) The one Kasidee chose was "Princess Dance Camp." It was 3 days in a row for 2 hours each and she had so much fun. She was a little hesitant to not have Mommy there with her, but she was glad to have her preschool friend (and our neighbor) Jenna with her. They learned a little dance, made a craft each day, and had a snack each day. I wish I could have been a little one too for those days!

Today was the "final performance," and the 7 little princess were so cute and did such a good job! At the end, they were each presented with a certificate. Kasidee's reads, "The Dance Factory hereby proclaims on this 16th day of June 2011 Princess Kasidee to be an official Princess of the Royal Palace for completing princess training at Princess Dance Camp 2011." It was signed by both Miss Sarah (the teacher) and "Fairy Godmother." Pretty impressive, eh?

Independent

Kasidee, like most 3-almost-4-year-olds, takes pride in doing things all by herself. Except for wiping her bum and sometimes walking up the stairs instead of being carried, but that's a whole other subject. The other night she told me she would get ready for bed all by herself. She told me to think of some jammies that she could wear and that she would be right back. A few minutes later she reappeared with her jammies on. She said, "Was these jammies a good choice? Was you thoughting of these ones?" : )

Park Day

Even though my BFF lives over an hour away, we've been trying to put more of a priority on our friendship - we've been trying to get together each month. Our husbands and kids get along really well, and it's been fun to be able to catch up on each other's lives. Saturday they came up this way and we had a picnic at the park. Such a pleasant summer evening, and we couldn't resist getting a few cute pics:





Joshua trying on a cute hat he found:


I just love it when they get sand in their hair!